Ollie Barder wrote:With the 30th anniversary of My Neighbor Totoro looming, Gkids has partnered with Studio Ghibli to reissue many of its movies on DVD and Blu-ray later this year.

According to Variety, the first six movies set for reissue will be Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Kiki’s Delivery Service, My Neighbor Totoro, Ponyo and Princess Mononoke on October 17.

This will then be followed by reissues of both Castle in the Sky and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind on October 31.

While Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is technically not a Studio Ghibli production, as it was made before the studio was formed, these reissues comprise the bulk of Hayao Miyazaki’s directorial output. The only major omissions here are Porco Rosso and The Wind Rises. However, it seems this new agreement with Gkids will include these titles but when they will be released remains to be seen.

For me, having Castle in the Sky in wider circulation again is only a good thing. It is the first movie made by Studio Ghibli and is my personal favorite. I recently reviewed the release of an artbook for the film and that too comes highly recommended.

The reason I love Castle in the Sky so much is that much like Future Boy Conan, it deals with the impact of ancient advanced technology on a modern world and is also has a very lean narrative.

The only worry with these new reissues, Castle in the Sky included, is that I hope we get all-new subtitles. The prior releases tended to err on the side of dubtitles and that would be a shame to see that happen with these new versions.

In any case, the works of Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki will be getting new DVD and Blu-ray editions this October and that makes me very happy indeed.

The alliance was announced Monday and will start with the Oct. 17 reissue of new Blu-ray and DVD editions of six titles from Miyazaki: “Spirited Away” and Oscar-nominated film “Howl’s Moving Castle” along with “Kiki’s Delivery Service,” “My Neighbor Totoro,” “Ponyo” and “Princess Mononoke,” followed on Oct. 31 with “Castle in the Sky” and “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.”

The Studio Ghibli library is led by directors and studio co-founders Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. Gkids has handled theatrical rights for the Studio Ghibli catalogue since 2010, and released “From Up on Poppy Hill,” “Only Yesterday,” “Ocean Waves” and the Academy Award-nominated titles “The Tale of The Princess Kaguya” and “When Marnie Was There.”

Gkids previously announced a partnership with Fathom Events to bring six Ghibli titles back to theaters nationwide this year including “Kiki’s Delivery Service,” which will play on July 23 and 24 in both dubbed and subtitled versions at approximately 600 theaters.

Other animation covered by the new agreement include “Porco Rosso,” directed by Hayao Miyazaki; “Pom Poko,” directed by Isao Takahata; “Whisper of the Heart,” directed by Yoshifumi Kondo; “My Neighbor the Yamadas,” directed by Isao Takahata; “The Cat Returns,” directed by Hiroyuki Morita; “Tales From Earthsea,” directed by Goro Miyazaki; and “The Secret World of Arrietty,” directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi.